Le secrétariat du Comité scientifique des Nations Unies pour l’étude des effets des rayonnements ionisants (UNSCEAR) recueille et analyse des données sur les tendances et les niveaux mondiaux et régionaux d’exposition humaine aux rayonnements ionisants. En 2014, il a lancé la plateforme en ligne de l’UNSCEAR, qui est une base de données électronique en ligne dotée d’un module d’importation automatique pour la communication de données. À ce jour, celle-ci regroupe des données relatives aux expositions médicale, professionnelle et publique.
Depuis 2014, le secrétariat de l’UNSCEAR et l’Organisation mondiale de la Santé ont coordonné les modalités de réalisation de la dernière enquête de l’UNSCEAR sur l’exposition médicale. Des informations sur les niveaux et les tendances de l’exposition aux rayonnements en médecine ont été recueillies jusqu’en 2019 en vue de compléter, sur ce sujet, les évaluations précédentes de l’UNSCEAR, qui dataient de 2008.
En outre, l’enquête de l’UNSCEAR sur l’exposition professionnelle s’est achevée en 2019 et présente des informations mondiales sur l’exposition aux rayonnements dans différents lieux de travail.
Lancée le 1er mars 2021 pour appuyer les travaux menés actuellement par le Comité sur l’évaluation et la mise à jour du Rapport 2008 de l’UNSCEAR, l’enquête de l’UNSCEAR sur l’exposition professionnelle est la plus récente.
L’Assemblée générale des Nations Unies a invité les États Membres de l’Organisation à fournir au Comité des données pertinentes sur l’exposition à diverses sources de rayonnements (voir la résolution A/76/56). Le secrétariat de l’UNSCEAR a sollicité des informations auprès des correspondants nationaux désignés par les États Membres de l’ONU. Les gouvernements sont invités et vivement encouragés à participer et à communiquer au secrétariat de l’UNSCEAR le nom et les coordonnées du correspondant national officiellement désigné et responsable de la collecte et de la transmission des données au secrétariat de l’UNSCEAR. La liste des États Membres de l’ONU et de leurs organisations est disponible ici.
Les correspondants nationaux doivent s’inscrire pour pouvoir accéder à la plateforme en ligne de l’UNSCEAR, qui permet la soumission et l’échange sécurisés de données, ainsi que la vérification des faits. D’autres experts nationaux peuvent être inscrits pour aider le correspondant du pays, au niveau national, à recueillir les informations et les données demandées sur l’irradiation des patients, des travailleurs et du public.
Il est fait état de toutes les contributions des États Membres dans les rapports et les annexes de l’UNSCEAR destinés à l’Assemblée générale des Nations Unies.
The United Nations Scientific Committee on the Effects of Atomic Radiation (UNSCEAR) has the mandate to assess levels and effects of human exposures to ionizing radiation. This encompasses occupational exposure of workers, medical exposure of patients, and public exposure to both natural and human-made sources of ionizing radiation. UN Member States contribute country-specific data to the Committee, facilitating the compilation and reporting of regional and global exposure assessments. The National Contact Person (NCP) in each country acts as the primary point of contact for the Committee, providing realistic and reliable estimates on exposure levels (occupational, medical, and public) within their respective countries.
The NCPs for each country are nominated by their governments and appointed by the UNSCEAR secretariat. Typically, one country NCP is appointed for each exposure category (occupational, medical, and public). However, it is possible for one NCP to coordinate country data submission for more than one exposure category.
An alternate NCP may also be designated to assist each NCP ensuring continuity of collaboration with UNSCEAR. The alternate NCP must be aware of the actions of the NCP and/or assists the NCP as needed.
In the event that the NCP withdraws from this function or is unable to complete the task, they must notify the UNSCEAR secretariat and inform the alternate NCP. This ensures that the alternate NCP can maintain continuity of the work.
Participation in this important international scientific activity brings tangible benefits to contributing Member States such as:
Better understanding of the national and regional levels and trends of radiation exposure of the public, workers, and patients;
Assisting in the development of national policies, strategies and programmes to manage exposures to ionizing radiation, as appropriate;
Providing Member States with comparative information on their radiation exposure levels in relation to global and regional levels, to identify challenges and priorities for improvements;
Providing other national and international institutions with reliable information that can be used in the development of recommendations on safety and protection in processes and procedures that use ionizing radiation;
Providing the scientific community with data that can be used in the development of its research and training tools;
Recognizing each contributing Member States and their NCPs for their valuable contribution to this international scientific work and reporting to the UN General Assembly.
It is recognized that collection of radiation exposure data in the country is not possible by one person or one organization alone. Therefore, the main responsibility of the NCP is to:
Identify individuals or organizations that have such exposure data in their country;
Coordinate collection of such exposure data, however partial or incomplete they may be;
Assemble and organize the data for submission to the UNSCEAR secretariat.
To accomplish such coordination, it is suggested that each NCP uses the following or a similar approach in their own country:
Create a working group composed of internal experts for the collection of relevant information, with the participation of other institutions, governmental or not, researchers, representatives of companies or other institutions, as necessary;
Identify, with the help of the working group, if there are databases, publications or reports by governmental or non-governmental entities that can inform on levels of radiation exposures in the country;
Hold internal meetings to discuss availability of other information (even if they may be limited to one facility or one institution), and to discuss ways to collect or obtain that information;
Evaluate the quality of the data available or collected, with the help of the working group of internal experts;
Estimate national exposure sources and levels based on the collected data, and if possible, prepare those estimates in the format requested by the UNSCEAR questionnaires [hyperlink here] and upload the data;
Forward any data or reports that could not be formatted to the UNSCEAR questionnaires to the UNSCEAR secretariat (NCPs can make their own summary table);
Participate in training seminars, webinars, and meetings scheduled by the UNSCEAR secretariat;
Be responsive to the contacts made by the UNSCEAR secretariat to clarify any questions that UNSCEAR experts may have regarding the data submitted;
Review the draft summaries prepared by UNSCEAR experts to provide any additional information or correct any misinterpretations, as necessary;
Disseminate the final reports published by the Committee among country colleagues and organizations who contributed to the report and raise awareness of UNSCEAR global surveys and of the Committee’s work in general.
Throughout the process, each NCP at any time can request individual meetings with UNSCEAR secretariat to ask for clarification about the requested exposure information or to communicate progress made or challenges encountered.
In addition, UNSCEAR and its secretariat will conduct periodic webinars to train and support NCPs, answer questions, and share experiences from NCPs from other countries.
Furthermore, an NCP Directory will soon be available so each country NCP can communicate with NCPs from other countries to ask questions, share experience, or possibly to collaborate.
